Police forces to be scrutinised over Clare's Law stats
The Home Office will look at how police process applications
The Home Office is going to start scrutinising police forces over the way they handle and process Clare's Law applications.
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) as it's known, allows people to ask if their partner has a history of violence.
Recent recorded data highlighted significant inconsistencies in how it's applied by police forces in England and Wales, potentially putting people at risk of domestic abuse.
An inspection found Merseyside Police once took up to 90 days to disclose information in a Clare's Law request - the limit is 28 days.
His Majesty's Inspectorate has issued a warning and raised concerns that such delays could increase the risk of harm.
Merseyside Police said in response that people are not left at risk. You can read more here.
The latest figures show in the year up to March 2023, 17,438 disclosures were made across England and Wales.
Safeguarding Minister Laura Farris said:
"One of the conversations I've had very recently with the Home Secretary is about scrutinising all the dataset we currently have from all 43 police forces across England and Wales as to the number of applications they're receiving, the number of disclosures they're making, the length of time those are taking and the reasons why they might not be disclosing everything, because we're determined to get to the bottom of good performance, bad performance, and ensure there is absolute consistency across all 43 forces.
"Clare's Law has been one of the most effective tools we've had to protecting women, particularly when they're starting relationships with new people, for whatever reason they've had a suspicion about them and have gone to police and they've found that they have been made aware of information that points to that person being a danger and we have no doubt that it's protecting women.
"So where there are pockets were any force has not been as affective as others, we're determined to find that out and make sure the next decade of Clare's Law is even better."
In Merseyside in the year up to March 2023, 1,671 applications were made and 597 were disclosed.
DCI Tracey Allen, Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit at Merseyside Police, said:
"Although the figures appear low in terms of the number of disclosures given under the ‘right to know’ and ‘right to ask’ applications, we will always disclose to an applicant when a risk is identified.
"The only time we wouldn’t disclose is when there is no risk to the individual or that the applicant isn’t eligible for a disclosure – this would be if they were not in a relationship with the person.
"We review every application and will always ensure a disclosure is made if an applicant maybe at any risk. When applications come in, we identify any high-risk victims and ensure they're offered appropriate support, not just from the police but from partners as well. We work with various partner agencies to make sure people are protected and are able to protect themselves from domestic abuse.
"We want to protect people"
"We're constantly looking at our processes in order to improve them and have provided extra staff within the department to ensure that these disclosures are made in a timely manner.
"I would urge anyone to come forward and apply for those applications because we want to protect people and we want to give the best service that we can to them."
Clare's Law applications can be made here.